“Check back in a few weeks, when I’ll be updating you on the season so far. Admittedly, it might just end up being one long ‘WHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYY?’, but you never know…”
This is how I ended my last tennis post here on Daily Waffle. It was just a little joke; not a very good one, admittedly, but JUST A LITTLE JOKE. Yet now here I am, with one of my favourite players seemingly unable to win a match, and the other having lost the longest, and probably most heartbreaking Grand Slam final of all time. Seriously. Tennis. WHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYY? Honestly, it’s no wonder I’m a glass half-empty kind of girl.
The tennis season is not all about me though. Just because I hate the sport with all my might right now, that doesn’t mean I can forget my Waffling duties. I promised an update, and now, with the season having moved into Europe and onto the clay, seems like the time to do it; here goes, then, with my top five talking points of the season so far:
1. Victoria Azarenka
Vika had been threatening greatness for quite a while coming into this season, only to leave hopes dashed again and again. She’s a bit of a head-case at times, and questionable fitness levels (once resulting in an on-court collapse at the US Open) would too often get in her way. It was all too easy to convince yourself that she was just never going to reach the level that her play and personality deserved…and then along came 2012. Vika, quite simply, stormed the first quarter of the season. She began with a 26 match unbeaten streak, which included titles in Sydney, Qatar and Indian Wells, and her first Grand Slam in Melbourne; a victory which also earned her the position of number one in the world. With her run finally ended by Marion Bartoli in Miami, and having never set the world alight on the clay, it’ll be interesting to see whether this form will stick around-but with former two-time Slam winner Amelie Mauresmo having joined her team recently, she’s clearly aiming to keep herself firmly at the top. And, because I am way too partial to a bit of WTA drama, I can’t not mention her new feud with former-BFF Agnieszka Radwanska. Aga is also in the middle of a quite stunning year, losing only four times…and ALL to Vika. Probably not surprisingly, this has irked her just a little, and a war of words has now broken out between the two. Some mean quotes here, a few barely disguised tweets/t-shirt slogans there, and bam. Years of friendship down the drain. I shouldn’t be enjoying it…but gosh, I really, really am.
2. Novak Djokovic d. Rafael Nadal, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7, 7-5
I seriously have to write about this? As if the 5 hours and 53 minutes I spent watching it wasn’t bad enough? I’ll be blunt: I’m a Rafa fan. I spent the whole of last year watching him lose to Novak Djokovic again, and again, and again, and it was, frankly, getting rather old (not to mention downright heartbreaking). Yet, here they were again, in another Grand Slam final, playing a potentially season-defining match in the first month of the year. Everybody expected a good match, hoped for a classic, but nobody could have predicted this…especially not just two days after Djokovic had been forced to spend almost five hours beating out Andy Murray for a place in the final. Before the match, it felt like this was Rafa’s chance. At 4-2 in the final set, I (a gibbering wreck in front of the TV, already on the wine at one o’clock in the afternoon) started to actually believe. That Novak, though. Just doesn’t know when he’s beaten. He came through, as he always seems to do, leaving his fans jubilant beyond belief, and Rafa fans crushed. It was an astonishing match, not always at the top-level in terms of quality, but off the chart on the drama scale…and at the end of it all, Novak had chalked up yet another victory against his main rival.
3. Retirements (Actual Retirements)
The ATP tour has already said goodbye to two of its most popular players this season. First up was Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez, who, in February, announced that the Masters tournament in Miami would be his last ever. A former world number 5, Australian Open finalist, and winner of each of the Olympic medals over the years, Gonzo admitted that injuries had finally taken their toll on his 31 year old body…and so, the tennis world was forced to say goodbye to the owner of one of the all-time greatest forehands. He was followed, just a few days ago, by the Croatian Ivan Ljubicic; a former world number 3, and one of the nicest guys on the tour. Ljubicic’s greatest moment came in 2010, when he defeated both Djokovic and Nadal to win his first Master’s title in Indian Wells, at the age of 31. An awesome achievement, made especially memorable by his obvious gleeful amazement. Both players brought a lot to the tour both on the court and off, and you won’t find many tennis fans who don’t wish them the best in their retirements.
4. Slumps…or simply increased competition?
For some stars of the women’s game, 2012 has proven to be an especially difficult one so far. In a few cases, this is a continuation of struggles in past seasons, and for others, the loss of form is new and surprising. Former world number one Jelena Jankovic appears to have given up on the idea of ever being relevant again, and has slipped as low as number 20 in the rankings. Vera Zvonareva, world number 2 just last year, has a win-loss record of 7-6 for 2012, and has slid down to number 10. Caroline Wozniacki, beginning the year at number 1, is now down to number 6. Then there’s Svetlana Kuznetsova, a two-time Grand Slam winner who increasingly looks to be in the midst of a permanent slump, currently slumming it down at number 27. Slumps happen all the time, and given that mental struggles have played a part in the careers of three of the above players, we could possibly just shrug them off as natural bumps in the career road. However, in the case of Wozniacki, her slide has less to do with her and more to do with the fact that the players around her have finally stepped up their game and removed her from a ranking which should never have been hers in the first place (yeah, I’m not a Caro fan; can you tell?). Could the demise of all these players therefore be explained by an increased depth in the women’s game? With the past five Grand Slams throwing up five different winners, and with three women battling for the number 1 spot in the latter stages of the Australian Open, are we simply just seeing the beginning stages of a golden era for the women’s game? As an ardent WTA supporter, I very much hope so.
5. John Isner
Even the most casual of tennis followers will have heard of John Isner. He’s the man who won the longest match in history at Wimbledon 2010, beating out Nicolas Mahut in 11 hours and 5 minutes over the course of three days. At the time, it seemed like that would probably be the biggest thing to happen in his whole career; 6ft 9in Isner was a solid player, but with a game relying almost entirely on a huge serve, and a build which made good court movement almost impossible, he seemed destined for a career around the 15-20 mark in the rankings. Very good, but not spectacular. Now, in 2012, things look a little different. Isner has climbed to number 9 in the world, making him the highest ranked American; he has beaten Roger Federer and Jo-Wilfred Tsonga in pressure-packed Davis Cup matches; knocked Novak Djokovic out of Indian Wells; and won an epic five-setter against one of the game’s toughest players, David Nalbandian, at the Australian Open. Having worked immensely hard to get his return game up to a competitive level, and with confidence sky-high, just how much further can Isner go this year? Could he even win a Grand Slam? I would say no…but then he’s proved me wrong his entire career, so you never know.
So, what do you think? Anything I’ve missed? Or are there any Wozniacki fans out there who want to fight her corner? Don’t forget to leave a comment…and I’ll see you in July to round-up the talking points of the clay and grass seasons.
